Rotary boring-drill.



R.`HUGHES.

ROTARY BORING DRILL1 APPucATlvoN man Nov. s, 1911.

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, application filed November 11917. Serial tto. 900,266.

To all whom it may oonoerm Be it known that l, Howann R., HUGHES, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Houston, Harris county, Texas, have invent- 5 ed a certain new and useful improvement in Rotary Boring-Drills, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptiom,l

such as will enable others vskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention relates to improvement in rotary boring drills of the roller type, but more especially to the disk form of roller bit designed for drilling' oil or water wells.. Thisty e of bit is commonly operated on a rotating drill stella' actuated from a suitable source of power 'at the surface. The drill` stem is a hollow pipe through which water is forced by a pump, or other means, from the surface down to the drill,

the water issuing therethrough upon the bot# tom of the hole. The cuttings and v.disintegrated .material'loosened by the drill are dashed away by this water`and are carriedl 25 upwardly outside the. drill stern to the suiey face. ln drilling in soft formation, such as cla and gumbo, a great deal of trouble is oftaen encountered by drillers through the tendency of a rotary drill to ball up w1th the disintegrated clay 'and gumbo. ln such cases the cutters on a rotary bit will clog up with the clay and fail to work. When the bit is withdrawn from the well the cutting disks are found to. be packed tightly about by anlass vof wet clay, sothat the bit pre-` sents somewhat an appearance of a mushroom, the lower cutting end, being rounded ed' by the packed material and leaving no means of drilling farther,

lt is to avoid this objectionable balling up that my present invention was devised. My plan is to start the drilling with the head of the bit rounded ofi at the base in the manner of a balled up bit, and arrange the cutters in the head so that they cannot be clogged up by the detritus, the flushing water issuing in such manner as to keep the 'cutters always clear. l

@ne object of my invention 1s to construct the head of a rotary disk drill in such form that it will not easily ball up in soft material.

Another object is to arrange the channel for the dushin water in such manner that the cutters wilbe kept clear and the water te will also be directed immediately upon the `,portion of the hole being cut by the bit.

@ther objects and advantages of my invention will more clearly appear inthe de scription which followerl Referring to'the drawin which form a to part of vthis specification, Figure l is a front view partly in section of my invention. Fig.

2 is a side view of the same; Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view thereof with one cutter' re moved, and Fig. t is a top plan view similar et ,toFigJ .v y.

ll/ly improved drill head comprises a main body portion preferably cylindrical inlshape having an upwardly extending threade shank, 2, for attachment to the drill, stem, flo not shown. rlhe lower end ofthe head is rounded ved so that` it presents the heini-` spherical appearance common to a balled up bit. 'llwoparallel vertical slots, lll, are cut in the lower rounded end to provide a hdusing forv rotatable -cutting disks, 5. These slots leave a central dat supporting member,

d, extending down between the slots to conf form to the `heinispherical shape desired in the head, andtwo side supportinglegs 3, 3 to also rounded ed as described. e

The cutting disks are mounted opposite each other on a straight bearing pin, 6, having one end reduced somewhat and threaded as at 7 for attachment in the threaded openee ing in the leg 3. rlhe shoulder, 8, thus provided on said pin contacts with the inner dat side of the outer-leg, 3, as shown in Fig.

l when the pin is tightened into place. rthe bearing pin, t, is secured in place against ee accidental loosening thereof by a tapered pin, 9, which is secured into a tapering hole in the central support, 4, at right angles to the bearing pin, and passes into a recess in the pin, as shown in Figs. l and 2, prevente5 ing lateral movement of said bearing pin in an obvious manner. v

The tapered hole for the pin is enlarged at one end as at l0 to allow the pin to be driven out, and is also enlarged at the op oloo site end and threaded to provide a seat or a set screw, l1, which holds the pin in its seat when the pin is properly driven in place. i

'lhe circular flat cutting disks arehoused in their respective'slots closely adjacent to the walls thereof. rlhe upper walls of the slots are grooved in an arc to conform to the shape of the cutters, the outer side being extended downwardly to partially shroud the cutters as at 12. Non-friction' washers 25 and 24 are provided on the inner and outer flat sides, respectively, of the shown at 13. The teeth thus slant downwardly from the smaller diameter toward the larger one on the forward side of the disk, thus providing an efficient cutting edge adapted to dig rapidly into the material.

The liushing water is conducted from thel upper part of the head inside the drill stem through two inclined passages or ducts, 15, to the cutters. These passages converge at a point, 16, on a level with the upper edge of the slots, 13, and from this point a passage, 17, extends laterally to each of the said slots. 0n the opposite side of the slot 14 from the passage 17 and vsomewhat odset therefrom toward the rear of the cutter is a downwardly extending duct or groove, 18. Said groove is adapted to catch the water issuing from the passage, 17, and conveys thesame out the lower end of the bit. It is to be noted that the water, as it issues from the passage 17, across the top of the slot, passes between the inclined teeth of the cutter, being thus directed somewhat to the rear of saidy cutter so as to pass into the upper end of the downwardly extending duct, 18. Said groove orduct, 18, is formed on the inner surface ofthe outer leg, 3, and issues atthe lower end thereof so that the water is projected immediately upon the bottom of the hole.

The cutters are lubricated in the usual` the lubricator passes downwardly through a central duct, 20, to lateral passages, 21,

lleading to the bearing pin. The said pin is grooved, as Aat 23, and provided with ducts, 22, to feed the oil upon the cutters in an obvious' manner.

` In, the operation of my bit the head is rotated in a clockwise direction.4 The toothed cutters, 5, roll on the bottom of the hole due to the friction between the cutter and the said bottom. The cutter also has a shearing or cutting action, the sharpedge of the disk scraping or shearing ofl' the material of the bottom of the hole. The material thus disintegrated is washed away from the lcutters by the action' of the flushing water issuing from the passages, 18, and impinging directly upon the work.

Any material clogging in the teeth of the cutter is partially cleaned off by the scraping of the material against the shroud or housing at 12 as the cutter turns. The tooth passage of the iushing water around down the flat sides of the disk. Some small part of the water may escape around the periphery of the cutting teeth, but the main volume of the water must pass directly across the top of the disks and issue from the downwardly extending passage, 18.

It will be apparent that the disk-shaped cutters will dig a cup-shaped hole into which the hemispherical head will closely fit.

I have thus provided a head, the cutters of which will not ball up. Due to the fact that the head conforms t0 the shape of the bottom of the hole, there is no chance for the clay to wedge or pack around the cutters to clog their action. Any clay or other material which gathers in the teeth of the cutters is washed away by the flushing stream which is projected directly upon it, leaving the teeth at all times clean and easily operated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A rotary boring tool comprising a head, the forward end thereof being rounded to conform to the shape of the hole; two cutters housed in separate slots in the forward rounded end of said head, said cutters being on axes at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the head.

2. A rotary boring tool comprising a head, the forward end being hemispherical in shape, vertical slots cut in the rounded end thereof, cutting disks mounted in said slots, and means to direct flushing water directly in advance of the tool.

3. A rotary boring tool comprising a head, the forward end thereof being hemispherical in shape, two vertical cutting disks mounted in slots in the forward rounded end of the head, said disks housed closely within said slots, and water passa es in said head arranged to direct the flushing water across the peripheryof the disks and also upon the bottom of the hole being drilled.

4f. In a rotary boring drill, a head, the forward end thereof being rounded to conform to the shape of the hole, two vertical cutting disks mounted in slots in the forward end thereof, said cutters being opposite and housed closely within said slots in such manner as to prevent material from entering said slots, and adapted to act simultaneously on both sides of the hole.

5. In a rotary boring tool, a head, cutters housed in slots in the lower end thereof, water ducts for directing the flushing water ibo across the upper part of said' slots, chan- 130 Laeaaaa la.

nels in the side of said slots offset from the said ducts to convey the water directly upon the bottom of the hole.

6. lln a rotary boring drill, a head, cutters housed in slots in the forward end thereof, inclined teeth on said cutters, water ducts in said head to direct the flushing water between said` inclined teeth and offset downwardly extending water channels to conduct the water out the forward end of said head.

7. A rotary boring drill, comprising a head, cutters housed in slots in said head arranged to direct the fiushing water across the upper part of said slots, channels extending downwardly therefrom to conduct the waterdirectly on to the bottom of the hole being drilled.

8. A rotary boring drill, comprising a head, the lower end thereof being rounded into hemispherical shape, cutting disks mounted closely in slots within said rounded.

end, water ducts in said head arranged to direct the flushing water across the upper periphery of said cutters, and channels offset from said ducts to convey the water directly upon the material being drilled.

9. A rotary boring drill, comprising a head, the lower end thereof being rounded into hemispherical shape, cutters housed in slots in the forward end of said rounded head, inclined teeth on said cutters, water. ducts in said head to direct the flushing water between said inclined lteeth at ythe upper part of said slots and downwardly extending water channels to conduct thel water from said teeth to the `bottom of theA hole being drilled.

10. A. rotary boring drill.. comprising a. head, flat cutting disks housed in the forward end thereof adapted tol cut a cupshaped hole, the forward end of said head being rounded to conform to the shape of the hole, two inclined water channels in said head, said channels converging at the center of the head, lateral channels to direct the water across the upper part of said disks, and downwardly extending grooves to conduct the water on to thebottom of the hole.

11. A rotary boring tool comprising a head, the forward end thereof being hemispherical in shape, cutting disks mounted in the rounded end of ,said head on an axis at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the head, said cutters projecting a short distance from each side of the head so as to act simultaneously on both sides of the hole.

12. A rotary boring tool comprising a head, cutters housed in the forward end thereof, teeth on said cutters and water ducts in said head arranged to direct flushing water laterally across the upper part of said housing and between the teeth of said cut-- ters for the purpose specified.

13. A rotary boring drill comprising a head, disk-shaped cutters mounted in slots in the forward end thereof, teeth on said cutters and water ducts in said head arranged to direct the water laterally across the upper end of said slots and between the teeth of said cutters to wash the same free from the loosened material cut by the drill.

14. A rotary boring tool comprising a head, cutters housed closely in the forward end thereof, teeth on said cutters and water ducts in said head arranged to direct flushing water laterally across the upper part of said housing and between the teeth of said cutters and downwardly, directed channels to conduct the water from thence directly upon the bottom of thevhole being drilled.

In testimony whereof, I hereuntoaflix 'my signature this the 10th day of Uctober, 1917.

HOWARD R. HUGHES. 

